The state Board of Regents yesterday agreed to make standardized math and English tests more difficult, admitting the current exam system sets the bar too low and doesn’t prepare students for college and the workforce.

“We haven’t been testing the right things in the right ways” in grades three through eight, said Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch.

“So we’re improving our assessments by raising [the level for passing grades], making the exams less predictable, testing more areas and making the test longer.”

The decision to overhaul the way the state defines academic proficiency for public-school students came following the release yesterday of a disturbing study that found even though more students are passing state exams than in years past, many are still unprepared for high school and college.

According to the findings, nearly a quarter of students in two- and four-year colleges in New York take remedial classes, and those who need to take them are less likely to move on to higher degrees.

Meanwhile, eighth-graders who score a 3 out of 4 on state math and reading tests have just a 52-percent chance of graduating high school, even though they’ve been told they’re on track.

The Bloomberg administration has been calling for tougher test standards for years, and the city Department of Education yesterday hailed the Board of Regents’ action.

But Education Department spokesman Matt Mittenthal pointed out that the state’s analysis didn’t put the city’s rising test scores in doubt because “New York City students have far outpaced the rest of the state in recent years, demonstrating undeniable progress.”